Landing In London
by And The Moment's Gone
Summary: "And when the night falls in around me, and I don't think I'll it through. I'll use your light to guide my way. 'Cause all I think about is you." Repost


Title: Landing in London  
Category: TV Shows » Instant Star  
Author: And The Moment's Gone  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Angst/Drama  
Originally Published: 10-03-08, Completed  
Chapters: 1, Words: 1,939

_Warnings/Spoilers_: You'll have to have seen the whole show to understand this one. Spoilers up to 4x13 (London _Calling_)

_Summary: "And when the night falls in around me, and I don't think I'll it through. I'll use your light to guide my way. 'Cause all I think about is you."_

_Official_ _Disclaimer_: All _Instant Star_ characters and plots belong to Linda Schuyler and theN. I do not hold stock either the person or the company. Jude Harrison, Thomas Quincy, and any other character featured are NOT mine. The title, summary, and lyrics come from the 3 Doors Down song _Landing in London_ and I don't own that either.

* * *

The house lights dimmed until the room was pitch black, save for a lone spot light shining down onto the right hand corner of the stage. When Sadie stepped into the halo, the light followed her to the center of the stage, cordless microphone in hand, revealing no more than the floor as she walked.

Her gown was exquisite, floor length and strapless red satin that floated around her as she walked. Sadie had gone all out when it came to dressing Jude, something she herself had tried so hard to care about. Her hair was pulled up into braids that were intricately woven around her head and she huffed at the fact that she was going to have to do without her Stratocaster. She'd argued that it was her song, therefore her guitar solo, but had been informed rather rudely that it would ruin the line of her outfit, and Sadie Harrison wouldn't have that. Her partner in crime for the song was so far to the back that he could have been backstage, hidden by the drum cage sporting a tailor-made black tux with a black vest and a pocket square that matched the color of her dress. It was a fashion choice that both of them had questioned more than once during the preparation of this event.

Everyone had wanted to celebrate Darius Mills' fortieth birthday in their own way. Unfortunately for them, Darius had already decided on a concert, televised and showcasing all of the artists that he had cultivated during his career. He'd sent her a dozen roses and a request for her to sing. It had been Sadie's idea that she write a new song.

Once she'd gotten most of the lyrics down it had been decided that it should be a duet.

And there was only one person that Sadie thought was good enough to duet with.

Calling him up to set up a time when they could teleconference about the music almost killed her.

Recording the demo might as well have.

But Darius was going to love it.

From her spot center stage, Sadie straightened her back and placed a hand over the six month old bump that was going to be her daughter. "Ladies and Gentlemen," she held her hand out, motioning to stage left and smiled. "Jude Harrison!"

**_"I woke up today in London,  
as the plane was touching down.  
All I could think about was Monday,  
and maybe I'd be back around.  
If this keeps me away much longer,  
I don't know what I will do.  
You've got to understand it's a hard life,  
that I'm going through."_**

She had brought her own backup band from London; a group of people that knew her new life and understood her transition better than anyone else. They had watched her practice the song so her voice wouldn't crack and they had seen what the ending did to her, so she knew that they understood what to expect.

They'd also made veiled threats to her duet partner in the green room to get her to laugh, but that was neither here nor there.

Her lead guitarist had taken a backseat this time though, making room for their guest. She was trying to shake off the feeling that she knew was coming when he would appear.

It was the one that had forced her to write the song to begin with.

The lyrics found her, two years ago when with a wave and a smile, Jude had left the comforts of her own little bubble to build herself a new life across the pond. She didn't know when or even if she would be coming back. She wasn't about to speculate the people she had left behind. Her notebook had been out, her hand doodling while she thought of everything other than her current predicament, and when she'd looked down the first stanza had been written.

It had haunted her ever since.

From the front row, Speiderman smiled up at her. He had offered to be her bass player, a role that he didn't particularly want but was willing to put up with if she needed a friendly presence on stage. She'd declined on principal. She had her band; anyone else up there for moral support would only hinder her.

**_She barely trusted her voice as it was.  
"And when the night falls in around me,  
I don't think I'll make it through.  
I'll use your light to guide the way,  
'cause all I think about is you."_**

The stage lights flared with the slight tempo change, revealing a large monitor overlooking the drum cage. Both she and her counterpart had donated pictures and tapes of their time both together and apart during their spell at G Major to be turned into a montage that the fans would both love and recognize. It started with her arrival after the Instant Star contest and dealt with all of the aspects of recording and producing with Tom Quincy, who was now in the middle of the stage, just a touch closer to the right. Her Stratocaster was strapped to his chest and his eyes were glued to the floor.

As the good, the bad and the just plain ugly played out on the screen behind them, Tom moved nothing more than his fingers on the strings.

They didn't look at each other, didn't even acknowledge that they weren't the only ones on stage. They took their assigned cues with grace and the rest was left up to the music.

Both of them preferred it that way.

There was a reason why Sadie had chosen them to go last.

**_"London's getting kind of crazy.  
_Toronto's getting kind of cold.**  
**_I keep my head from getting lazy._**  
**I just can't wait to get back home."**

Breathing was a conscious thought now, as they split lines and shared stanzas. If she didn't breathe it would be over too quickly, and Jude just couldn't face that.

Despite her dream, she wasn't living out the Rock Star fantasy in London. The studio kept her busy, with mini tours and guest appearances. She did press junkets when told and attended all the right parties and shows. Her only true tabloid moment had been when Speid had joined his wife during the European leg of her tour and Karma had demanded that Jude join them at Venom after her set. Spied coaxed her into dancing and the next morning they had made page fifteen of the Mirror, featured below a blurb about a tribe in Africa that worshipped Donald Trump's hair.

Karma was just happy for the publicity it brought her tour.

Jude was producing her own music now, something that he had taught her to do. They had fought over the rights to the final mix of Landing in London, and somehow she already knew that he wouldn't be amazed to discover that she had recorded and mixed a single for her next album by herself.

There were no boyfriends; no lovers.

Just spent her night like she spent her days; in the studio surrounded by the only life she knew.

Holding onto the only thing she could.

**_"All these days I spend away,  
I'll make up for it I swear!  
I need your love to hold me up  
when it's all too much to bear!"_**

Their voices joined. She couldn't help but notice that it was as if the time they had spent apart had never existed. There would never be a voice that complimented her like his. Tom turned to his right and the entire audience seemed to turn with him.

He'd spent his two years in almost solitude, wandering from house to studio and back again. It wasn't until Kwest had all but forced Sadie's newest assistant on him that he had begun to live again. They hadn't hit it off at first, due in large part to the piece of Tommy's heart that would never be returned, but after weeks of Sadie using Alex as a go between during concert season, they warmed up to each other.

They'd been together for five months when Sadie had not so subtly hinted about the duet.

Tom had almost left her the day Jude arrived.

The next morning, when he returned her call after the third voicemail, he'd told her that he forgot about a demo that needed to be reworked before Darius got a hold of it. He'd shoved the duffle in the back of the closet in his office.

He told no one.

**_"And when the night falls in around me,  
and I don't think I'll it through.  
_I'll use your light to guide my way**  
**_'Cause all I think about is you"_**

Tommy took the solo, and Jude was forced to concentrate on the way he ripped through the chords as if she hadn't spent weeks mapping them out. She still didn't know why it was hers he was using; he had plenty of his own guitars at his disposal. It was as if they both had silently agreed that the one that was always used in the past, during late night sessions and general goofing off, should accompany the pain and heartbreak.

When she'd turned to him, she didn't know. They were facing each other now, eyes locked and bodies tense. His eyes caught hers for the minutest of seconds and she realized that he hadn't noticed it either. Band member's faces disappeared then, falling into the sea of black that was tunneling around her vision and managers, girlfriends and sisters vanished from her thoughts.

All that was left was the two bodies, center stage, eyes on each other.

The melody blasting from the speakers giving voice to the words that they couldn't find.

**_"And all these days I spent away  
I'll make up for them I swear!  
I need your love to hold me up,  
when it's all too much to bear!"_**

She was sobbing now, clutching the microphone stand as a lifeline and trying to keep herself upright. It amazed her that she could still find it in herself to sing. The words fell from her lips a touch slower than they should have, her band catching up to her without direction.

Never in her life had she been so exposed on stage. Never had she broken so completely.

He watched as she held her breath and did the one thing that both of them had sworn that they wouldn't do during this one performance. The hand that wasn't white-knuckling the stand slid up to wipe her eyes and she caught a glance of the monitor through her tears. Past Tommy pulled Past Jude into his lap in Studio 1, kissing her nose and burying his face in her hair as she reached for a knob on the control panel. While he knew that he shouldn't have included that particular session in what he'd given to Sadie, he'd had nothing to offer in its place.

Jude kept singing; it was the only thing she remembered how to do at the moment.

Her heart was shattering in front of a live audience and she sung on. She remembered how to pull herself together long enough to get through the final stanza. She was determined to make it off stage.

Tom just hoped her composure lasted that long.

**_"And when the night falls in around me,  
and I don't think I'll make it through.  
I'll use your light to guide the way."_**

Her knees hit the stage as the last line fell from her lips.

**_"All I think about is you."_**

And the crowd went wild.


End file.
